Twitter Buttons

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

The 10 Standard Fire Orders are firm. We don't break them; we don't bend them. All firefighters have the right to a safe assignment.

10 Standard Fire Orders and 18 Watch Out Situations

The 10 Standard Fire Orders were developed in 1957 by a task force studying ways to prevent firefighter injuries and fatalities,

Shortly after the Standard Fire Orders were incorporated into firefighter training, the 18 Situations That Shout Watch Out were developed..

These 18 situations are more specific and cautionary than the Standard Fire Orders and described situations that expand the 10 points of the Fire Orders..

If firefighters follow the 10 Standard Fire Orders and are alerted to the 18 Watch Out Situations, much of the risk of fire fighting can be reduced.

The 10 Standard Fire Orders

The NWCG Parent Group just approved the revision of the Ten Standard Fire Orders in accordance with their original arrangement. The original arrangement of the Orders are logically organized to be implemented systematically and applied to all fire situations.

Fire Behavior1. Keep informed on fire weather conditions and forecasts.2. Know what your fire is doing at all times.3. Base all actions on current and expected behavior of the fire.

Organizational Control7. Maintain prompt communications with your forces, your supervisor and adjoining forces.8. Give clear instructions and insure they are understood.9. Maintain control of your forces at all times.

If 1-9 are considered, then...10. Fight fire aggressively, having provided for safety first.

The 10 Standard Fire Orders are firm. We don't break them; we don't bend them. All firefighters have the right to a safe assignment.

The 18 Watch Out Situations

1. Fire not scouted and sized up.2. In country not seen in daylight.3. Safety zones and escape routes not identified.4. Unfamiliar with weather and local factors influencing fire behavior5. Uninformed on strategy, tactics, and hazards.6. Instructions and assignments not clear.7. No communication link between crewmembers andsupervisors.8. Constructing line without safe anchor point.9. Building line downhill with fire below.10. Attempting frontal assault on fire.11. Unburned fuel between you and the fire.12. Cannot see main fire, not in contact with anyone who can.13. On a hillside where rolling material can ignite fuel below.14. Weather gets hotter and drier.15. Wind increases and/or changes direction.16. Getting frequent spot fires across line.17. Terrain or fuels make escape to safety zones difficult.18. Feel like taking a nap near fireline.

Twitter links

****REMINDER**** Every fire has the ability to be catastrophic. The wildland fire management environment has profoundly changed. Growing numbers of communities, across the nation, are experiencing longer fire seasons; more frequent, bigger, and more severe, fires are a real threat. Be careful with all campfires and equipment.View blog top tags---------------------

Followers

THIS SPACE FOR RENT

California Fire News Content

How fires get their names

Every year in California thousands of wildfires start throughout the state.
In most cases, the dispatch center sending the initial resources to a wildland fire
will designate a name for the fire, but the first on scene engine or fire official can
also name the incident. Fires are usually named for the area in which they start –
a geographical location, local landmark, street, lake, mountain, peak, etc. Quickly
naming the fire provides responding fire resources with an additional locater, and
allows fire officials to track and prioritize incidents by name.
For example during the Southern California Fire Siege of 2003, the largest
wildland fire in California history, the Cedar Fire in San Diego County, was
named after the Cedar Creek Falls area where it started. The destructive Old
Fire, which burned during the same time period in San Bernardino County, was
named after the road along which it started - Old Waterman Canyon Road.
CAL FIRE is the largest fire department in California and the second largest fire department in the United States.
CDF - CAL FIRE Firefighters answer the call more than 300,000 times a year. CAL FIRE Firefighters make up the fire department for 30 of our 58 counties in California and more than 100 local communities. We serve as the incident command during many of California’s most serious disasters. CAL FIRE Firefighters respond to many various types and forms of calls ranging from structural fires, to auto accidents, to earthquakes, to floods, to the spilling of hazardous materials, to every conceivable disaster; CAL FIRE answer's the calls.
CAL FIRE is the largest fire department in California and the second largest fire department in the United States .CAL FIRE firefighters protect 33 million acres of State Responsibility Area (SRA). We have over 4,000 members within CAL FIRE and CAL FIRE is associated with the California Professional Firefighters (CPF) and the International Association of Firefighters (IAFF).

Go Back To Top

Cal Fire News is for casual public interest, and does *not*constitute an official warning system. Those who choose to read or receive Cal Fire News messages do so with the understanding they are *not* an official instruction, suggestion or permission to take action.